This is an old Long Lines telephone pin. It is somewhat of a common pin that was issued by the Long Lines Department of the Bell System. However, it is much harder to find a 40 year pin. This pin has 8 stars designating 40 years of service to the company. I have a couple of these pins but they are hard to find. In fact, I am not sure if I have ever seen a 45 year pin or 50 year pin from Long Lines Bell System. If you have one, please let me know. In general, the 50 year service pins from any company are very difficult to find up for sale...

Enjoy!

12/30/2011

Hello,

My latest acquisition - a 45 year Long Lines pin (9 stars). No stone left unturned to find this pin (charm). Folks, this one was hard to find - it took me 5 years of searching and asking around.

I have seen variations on the color of the stones. In fact, both of these photos show the "newer" version of the Long Lines award. Yet generally speaking, whether the older version or the newer, the 35 year is a Blue Sapphire, the 40 year is an Emerald and the 45 year is a Diamond. I will check on the 25 year and 30 year and post later. I have no idea about the 50 year because I have never seen one.

debsavage, 3 years agoI have two of these pins as well - inherited from my great Aunt who worked for Bell for many years, in NYC. She loved her job and talked about it all the time. My pins must be the older style because they look different from yours? One is the 35 year pin (with a tiny sapphire) and one is the 40 year pin (with emerald). Does anyone have any idea how much these are worth?

Militarist, 3 years agoThanks for the stones information and good luck on your quest.

The older style pins have a flatter sheen to the metal and the wreath clusters surrounding the gemstone look more like scales of a serpent rather than leaves on a branch. I like the older style pin much more but some are so hard to find that I settled for the new style for lack of anything available.

Yes, I can tell you values (value ranges) and what each pin is worth. The Long Lines pins with no stones can be sold anywhwere from $20 up to $50 consistently. Any of the Long Lines pins with various gemstones can be sold from a low of $50 all the way up to around $150. Of course, most buyers will haggle over these prices but the 45 year and 50 year pins are $100 at least - that is if you can find them!

Thank you for your nice comments!

earthandmagneto, 3 years agoThank you Militarist. Good luck on your quests as well!

njlouv, 3 years agoScott - You have a remarakable collection of some difficult to find pieces.
I have an AT&T Long Lines 30 year pin (see it on this forum). My question is wht color stone should be on a 30 yr pin??
Mine is ruby which doesnt seem to match the norm?????
Do you have any ideas?

Yes, I have one of these 30 year pins with a ruby as well. However, the majority were issued with turquoise. I have gone so far to believe that some were issued to men while others were awarded to women.

Still, you have the older version which is much harder to find. You have a real keeper there! My pictures posted here are of the "newer" version issued from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Your pin is from the 1940s. I know because I have a full collection of the older style and some came with card stock labels indicating the year. After all this time, I have yet to find a 50 year Long Lines pin whether older style or newer style.

ynyswraig, 2 years agoHi! I came across your interesting article while doing a search for AT&T Long Lines charm. I don't have a photo of the charm as yet because it needs cleaning first:)Anyhow, the charm I have is marked sterling LGB on the back , and on the front it has AT&T Long Lines , a tiny bell within a circle, what looks like a statue on the left , and a tiny turquoise stone at the bottom. Are the charms also collectible ?